The Tempest By: William Shakespeare

The Tempest is one of my favorite shows that I have costumed. Since the director decided there was no specific time period, I was able to make the costumes as whimsical as I wanted. We had a very small budget for this show, so I modified pieces from our existing stock and from thrift stores.

Prospero

I envisioned Prospero's costume as nobility meets sorcerer. I used chiffon pants and sleeves for a flowy, magical feeling. Then added a dark velvet cape to show their past nobility.

Miranda

For Miranda's costume, I wanted to show that she was a shipwreck survivor, but still bring femininity to the piece. To make her dress look like it had been crafted from a ship's sail, I sewed it out of a distressed sheet. I then added a corset to which I sewed a burlap overlay for more texture.

Ariel

I made Ariel's costume ethereal and water-like. I rippled the over skirt to look like waves and used a shimmery blue underskirt.

For the scenes where Ariel is costumed like a harpy, I created wings out of several metal coat hangers and a cloak. I bent the wires into a v- shape and wrapped them in duct tape. I attached this to backpack straps using zip ties. Finally the wings were draped with different black fabrics.

Ferdinand

For Ferdinand I wanted to highlight his noblility. Since he was traveling, I found an old black brocade jacket and added buttons. I then made a belt to add a pop of color.

Caliban

Caliban's costume was a hodgepodge of different beat-up costumes. I used browns and creams to keep with the dingy look.

Stephano

Trinculo

Since Stephano and Trinculo were the comedic relief, I was able to be pretty outlandish with their costumes. I sewed on a lot of different gold buttons and added funny hats and pants.

Nymphs

For the Nymphs, I went thifting and found two green chiffon dresses. I then added flutter sleeves to tie the two greens together. To finish the pieces, I used leaf boas from our costume vault.

Iris, Ceres, & Juno

I wanted the goddesses to be uniform, but each have their own individual flare. After a lot of searching, I found three different gold dresses and added shoulder straps .

The King and Nobles

King Alonso with Nobles

I went with dark, rich colors for the nobles. The fabric textures I used were velvet, silk, and brocade. I gave the King (right) a more intricate costume to show status.

Sebastian & Antonio

For the antagonists, I gave each a side cape and kept their color pallet to black, red, and brown.

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